Connections, Ancient and Modern

[treegod]

So, a "quick" question ( ), what do you think/feel is the connection between "modern druidry" (neo/meso-druidry, now) and "ancient druidry" (paleo-druidry, 2000 yrs ago, give or take).

(no, not contentious at all hahaha)

[Aphritha]

Feel? I could be incorrect, but I feel a connection with the natural forces of earth and a quest for knowledge could link the two.

[DJ Droood]

Ethnic....it is the only "connection"....not all, but the vast majority of modern people interested in Druidry are of Northern European descent. Druids were the ancient priesthood of Northern Europe, and almost nothing is known about them. They are shadowy, hooded figures, primarily British in our imaginations....blank canvases that we can project our ideals on to....the Druids (in our imagination) embody all the positive aspects of the last 2000 or so years of Northern European culture.... rational and scientific (inheriting Stonehenge and other astronomical observatories), independence from tyranny (bloody Romans) free thinkers (unlike the Christians), enlightened (like Voltaire), peaceful (like Gandhi...ok, not a European, but he struggled against the British!), egalitarian (various women's/human rights movements of the 20th century), environmentally aware (modern)...we can cherry-pick the best of European culture and project it backwards onto the bearded/hooded hippie-dudes. I am ok with that...Druids are sort of like Jesus....the more we study them, the less they seem like what we want them/him to be, but maybe how we "feel" about them (as Aphritha says) is more important than the facts.

[Ade Sundog]

I agree DJ and Aphritha .

It's also the way i feel about my relationship with modern Druids, i don't know many in person, but i know that there are
quite a few others out there, and that thought inspires me, if you know what i mean.

[DaRC]

Hmmmm growing up and living in Northern Europe I think there is not just an ethnic but a cultural connection.
I knew very little of meso Druidry until i sought it out but many of the concepts and ideas behind it were familiar to me. With family in West Cornwall and with family holidays in North Wales I was brought up on myths & legends, some contained Druids and some didn't but there was a familiarity with ancient Druidry.
Then there's the whole Arthurian cycle - which has rippled out along the British cultural diaspora. The concepts within those ancient Northern tribes recorded in the (Atlantic?) Celtic world are the roots of our modern world.

I still read the 'Auracept na n-Éces (The Scholar's Primer)' and see the wisdom within it. In the Colloquoy of the 2 Sages I can see where it has modern relevance. If anything they highlight that the ancients were people not very dissimilar to us.

Finally, I agree with Apritha that it is the land, nature and our human nature that seeks the divine which provides another connection that means Druidry has relevance.

[Corwen]

The connection certainly isn't ethnic, all sorts of people practice Druidry, not just people of Northern European descent. To be honest there is little connection IMO (even the cultural connection is somewhat strained given the gaps in time), but one strong connection is place. Revival Druidry, and revival Paganism in general, started in the British Isles, where the stronghold of ancient Druidry was. It seems conceivable that both ancient and modern Druidry have their origins here (Ancient Druids in Gaul were sent to Britain to be trained). Of course people can be Druids anywhere, but the idea of being Druids now started here.